All they are eating right now is pasture , and some treats here and there . (The woman that gave them to me shows horses , and told me not to feed them any grain cause we have plenty of pasture) I had measured him and it showed me how tall he was and then I wrapped it around him and it gave me and estimate on his weight and he is 15.2 hands , and by that tape almost 1500 lbs! He is a massive boy ! ( There are some more pics on my profile of them) So far , I have not been giving them as much treats (just when I am working with them). Scooter has started to get a little nippy and today when I went out there he started to nip at my shirt and I smacked his nose , he went to do it again and I smacked his nose again , after that he just stood there looking at me and after a few minutes I rubbed on him a little . I think he is always expecting me to give him treats now lol!

You are very smart to ask for help here. Your relationship with your horse will be very different from any other. You need to learn how horses think and how to act around them to be safe.

most of the respect you will gain with these horses will be gained by doing "ground work". which is just that...working with them while you are on the ground vs. in the saddle. you should probably do 2-4 weeks of ground work before you even try to ride these guys. and for the riding part a trainer will be invaluable.

the others have given you some ideas about ground work but you can learn more by purchasing some videos. a small investment with a huge payoff. you will watch them over and over again. i can personally recommend ground work videos from Clinton Anderson, although there are several others too. I use his method and have been very impressed. you can get these on e-bay.

check out the "natural horsemanship" forum. they will discuss a lot of ground work stuff there. natural horsemanship is a training method that works towards developing a relationship with your horse, establishing you as the leader and thereby gaining their respect. verses dominating the horse and whipping it into submission like people used to do. it would be best to find a trainer who practices natural horsemanship to get you started with this and the videos are a trainer in a box.

Clinton Anderson is one well-known natural horsemanship trainer and he has a club you can join for 20 bucks a month to connect with others, watch training videos, TV shows he's done, etc. I belong to the club and have for about 3-4 years. I love it. I don't mean to be selling Clinton Anderson to you but for me, his method has really worked. my horse is a dream, thanks to the techniques i have learned from him.

i just want to throw this in.
What to feed your horse: pasture grass or grass hay, all they want unless they get too fat, vitamins, salt block. (go easy on the pasture grass unless they are used to it). that's it. that is the best diet for a horse. if they need weight then you can feed a high fat feed like rice bran or low carb pelleted horse feed.
what NOT to feed: they should not get any type of grains. no sweet feed. they don't eat that stuff in the wild. they eat forage...grass and dried grass which is hay.

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